30

 

Abbie screamed. Her earphones and MP3 player fell to the bed as she reached for the call button.

“Don’t even think it, little girl.”

Elle gripped Abbie’s hand tightly, swallowing her fear. She couldn’t let on how scared she was. She had to be strong for Abbie.

Patrick pushed upright in the chair. “Why don’t you put the gun down and we can talk about this. I’m not armed and if you fire that in here you could damage the equipment or hit Elle or Abbie.”

“And why should that bother me? You’re all as guilty as each other.”

“But why?” Elle asked. “What did we do to you that was so terrible?”

Zeke kept his eyes and gun on Patrick as he spoke. “Remember the house party?”

She swallowed. “The one from university? You weren’t there. I’d have remembered you.”

“Garth was my older brother. He died because of you, Agent Page of MI5.”

Patrick held his gaze. “Then you don’t need the ladies in here. Why don’t you and I go somewhere else and discuss this?”

“I don’t think so.”

“What happened to Garth?” Elle asked. She wrapped her arms around a whimpering Abbie to protect her. Jesus, please protect us.

“Because of you he wrapped his car around a tree.”

“How is that my fault?” Patrick asked.

“Because if that fight between you hadn’t happened, Dad wouldn’t have noticed the black eye and asked questions.” Anger spilled from Zeke, his face red, his voice loud and resonating. “Then Garth wouldn’t have died.” He shoved the gun into Patrick’s face. “So because of you I lost the most important thing in the world to me, and now you are going to lose what matters most to you. PJ had traced Eleanor, and I couldn’t believe my luck when it was the same Eleanor Harrison from college. I became her manager, figuring she’d have kept in touch with you. Finding she had an illegitimate daughter by you was the icing on the cake.”

Patrick looked unswervingly at him. Elle glanced from him to the angry man in front of them. Why was Patrick so calm? Didn’t he care what Zeke was saying?

“Put the gun down,” Patrick said. He flicked his eyes to the window in the door.

Elle followed his gaze, seeing a uniformed officer in Kevlar standing there. She flicked her eyes back to Patrick. Had he expected this? Surely, he wouldn’t willingly put Abbie in danger? Was he the man she thought he was?

Patrick held out his hands. “Look, you want to walk out of here, right? We all do. Put the gun down and we can do that.”

Zeke shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Who do I start with? Her?” He pointed the gun at Abbie, ignoring her scream.

Elle pulled her close, shielding Abbie with her body. “I got you, baby,” she whispered. Terror rose in her throat, she struggled to breathe, but at that moment she knew it didn’t matter what happened to her, so long as Abbie was all right.

“Or her.” Zeke pointed the gun at Elle.

She looked desperately at Patrick.

“How about neither?” Patrick slowly stood. “Just put the gun down.”

“Don’t move,” Zeke yelled. He swung the gun back at Abbie.

Patrick lunged at him, grabbing his wrist and pointing the gun away from Abbie. The police officers burst in, pointing their weapons at the men. Patrick seemed to have the upper hand as he landed a swift punch on Zeke’s chin.

Zeke fell back, the gun going off as he fell. The sound echoed in the small room.

Patrick fell to his knees, his hands clasped over his stomach. His eyes widened. “Elle…”

Abbie screamed. “Dad…”

Elle scrambled over to Patrick. He lay on the floor, a med team rushing in to surround him. Zeke started to come around, but the armed cops took charge, cuffing him and keeping him down.

“Patrick, stay with me…”

His eyes tried to focus, then closed, his head tilting to one side.

“Patrick…”